How to Make a Fortune Investing in Multi-Family Real Estate

We’ve all heard the dictum about the dangers and risks associated with putting all our eggs in one basket so many times

that you would think when it came to real estate investment few sane people would want to place all their investment in a single-Family property.

Yet many of the people I meet in the courses I run have exactly this kind of approach which shows, perhaps, just how powerful market conditioning can be. Most of the real estate moguls we get to hear about tend to be single-Family property types (with the exception perhaps of Donald Trump who has taken the eggs in the basket dictum very much into account in everything he has done) and this tends to brainwash us into thinking that either this is the only type of real estate investment available to us or that this is the only type of real estate investment there is.

The truth is that investing in multi-family properties spreads the risk of your investment without drastically increasing the costs and, in addition, allows you to create a built-in buffer against an apartment or two going vacant at some point (which is always a risk you need to be prepared for).

With a single-family property should the tenant’s personal circumstances change you may well find yourself missing out on a couple of months of income which is enough to wipe out your profit from that property for the year.

The risk of this is spread thin with a multi-family property however where a tenant or two moving out does not affect your monthly income from the building enough to seriously jeopardise your annual profit and that is one of the beauties of investing in multi-family properties.

Couple it to the fact that thanks to popular misconception you are competing with fewer other real estate investors for the choicest properties than if you were active in the single-family home market. This is not to say that you should develop a mindset which specifically looks at multi-family properties to the exclusion of everything else.

Far from it. Good business is where you find it and as a real estate investor who has bought single-family homes to flip (indeed I started out my career in real estate investing with a single-family home) I can tell you that if you come across a good deal or need to buy a property to flip quickly so you can invest in an apartment block you should never overlook the possibilities offered by the single-family property, much as you leverage multi-family ones in order to build up a portfolio that will guarantee you never have to work to someone else’s schedule ever again.

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Starting as a dead broke landscaper living in a one bedroom apartment, Dave Lindahl started buying and selling multi-unit properties to create a better life for himself. With no real estate experience, he created systems that allowed him to create enough monthly positive cash flow to retire with in 3 ½ years. Lindahl is now considered the nation’s leading expert in buying and selling multi-family properties.

Also known as the “Apartment King,” he has been successfully investing in single-family homes and apartments for the last ten years and currently owns more than 5,136 units around the U.S. He is the author of six popular, money making home study courses “Apartment House Riches”, “How To Estimate And Renovate House For Huge Profits”, “Managing For Maximum Profits”, “The Real Estate Investors Marketing Tool Kit”, “Single Family Riches” and “Condo Conversion Boot Camp in a Box”.

Dave Lindahl has been featured in Reader’s Digest, Creative Real Estate Lifestyles, Kiplinger Magazine and on AOL, among others. He regularly shares the same stage as Robert Kiyosaki, Tony Robbins and Donald Trump. Dave is our special guest on this month’s training webinar on December 9th 2009, when he’ll discuss the current strategies he is using to reap more profits than ever from multi-family real estate. Join us on this free webinar. Click here to register and guarantee your spot.

***UPDATE*** The webinar happened on December 9th and it was a huge success. Watch the replay to see for yourself the amazing wealth of information Dave shares on the call. It’s available for streaming until 11:59pm CT on December 14th.

Author: Doug Smith

MyHouseDeals was founded in April of 2005 and has since provided information on thousands of bargain-priced properties with over $7 Billion in equity (and growing!) In addition to property lists, we help investors succeed by providing valuable tools, resources and education.
Most of the properties on MyHouseDeals are single-family houses. Many of these properties are wholesale deals, which are for sale by other investors. Others are motivated seller leads, which are for sale by homeowners who are often in a bad situation. These properties are typically discounted by far greater amounts than bank foreclosures.
View all posts by Doug Smith